Method of manufacturing a drive circuit of active matrix device

ABSTRACT

A data holding control signal for each data line is supplied to a plurality of source followers that are connected together in parallel. The parallel-connected source followers are a combination of at least one first follower that is illuminated with laser light only once and at least one second follower that is illuminated twice. A width of the laser light illumination for crystallization is equal to a pitch of the source followers multiplied by an integer that is not less than 3.

This application is a divisional of prior application Ser. No.09/902,622 filed Jul. 12, 2001, which is a continuation of applicationSer. No. 08/974,163 filed Nov. 19, 1997, now abandoned, which is adivisional of application Serial No. 08/421,440 filed Apr. 13, 1995, nowabandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a drive circuit of an active matrixtype display device which is composed of thin-film transistors. Inparticular, the invention relates to a drive circuit of an active matrixtype display device in which source followers are used as analog buffersand variations of their characteristics are suppressed.

The active matrix type display device is a display device in whichpixels are arranged at intersections of a matrix with every pixelassociated with a switching element, and image information is controlledby turning on/off of the switching elements. This type of display deviceuses, as a display medium, a liquid crystal, plasma, or some othermaterial or state whose optical characteristic (reflectance, refractiveindex, transmittance, luminous intensity, or the like) can be variedelectrically. In the present invention, specifically a field-effecttransistor (three-terminal element) having the gate, source and drain isused as the switching element.

In the following description of the invention, a row of a matrix means astructure in which a signal line (gate line) that is disposed parallelwith the row concerned is connected to the gate electrodes oftransistors of the row concerned. A column means a structure in which asignal line (source line) that is disposed parallel with the columnconcerned is connected to the source (or drain) electrodes oftransistors of the column concerned. A circuit for driving the gatelines is called a gate drive circuit, and a circuit for driving thesource lines is called a source drive circuit.

In the gate drive circuit, stages of a shift register corresponding tothe number of gate lines in the vertical direction are arranged linearlyand interconnected in series to generate signals of vertical scanningtimings of the active matrix type display device. In this manner, thethin-film transistors of the active matrix type display device areswitched by means of the gate drive circuit.

In the source drive circuit, stages of a shift register corresponding tothe number of source lines in the horizontal direction are arrangedlinearly and interconnected in series to generate horizontal image dataof display image data of the active matrix display device. Analogswitches are turned on/off by latch pulses that are synchronized withhorizontal scanning signals. In this manner, currents are supplied tothe thin-film transistors of the active matrix type display device bymeans of the source drive circuit, to control orientations of liquidcrystal cells.

FIG. 9 schematically shows a conventional active matrix type displaydevice. There are two kinds of polycrystalline silicon thin-filmtransistor manufacturing processes: a high-temperature process and alow-temperature process. In the high-temperature process,polycrystalline silicon is deposited on an insulating film that isformed on a quartz substrate, and a thermally oxidized SiO₂ is formed asa gate insulating film. Thereafter, gate electrodes are formed, N-typeor P-type ions are implanted, and source and drain electrodes areformed. Thus, polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors aremanufactured.

In the low-temperature process, silicon is crystallized by two kinds ofmethods: solid-phase growth and laser annealing. In the solid-phasegrowth, a polycrystalline silicon film is obtained by subjecting anamorphous silicon film on an insulating film that is formed on a glasssubstrate to a heat treatment of 600° C. and 20 hours, for example. Inthe laser annealing, a polycrystalline silicon film is obtained byapplying laser light to amorphous silicon on a glass substrate surfaceto thereby heat-treat only the film surface portion at a hightemperature.

In general, crystalline films are obtained by using one or both of theabove two methods.

An SiO₂ film is then formed as a gate insulating film by plasma CVD.Thereafter, gate electrodes are formed, N-type or P-type ions areimplanted, and source and drain electrodes are formed. Thus,polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors are manufactured.

The source drive circuit is a circuit for supplying image data to anactive matrix panel of the active matrix type display device by scanningit vertically, and is composed of a shift register, analog switches thatare thin-film transistors, analog memories that are capacitors, andanalog buffers formed of thin-film transistors.

The analog buffer is needed because the analog memory cannot directlydrive the thin-film transistors of the active matrix type display devicedue to a large load capacitance of the source line.

The thin-film transistor of the analog buffer has a source followerconfiguration. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, a single thin-filmtransistor is provided for each data holding control signal line, andthe thin-film transistors are so manufactured as to be arranged atregular intervals.

FIG. 6A shows an example of using N-channel thin-film transistors.Alternatively, P-channel thin-film transistors (see FIG. 6 b) or bothtypes of transistors may be used.

The analog buffers that constitute the source drive circuit of theconventional active matrix type display device have the followingproblem.

Each analog buffer has the single thin-film transistor that has a sourcefollower configuration. When laser annealing is employed as a means forcrystallization as described above in the thin-film transistormanufacturing process, a silicon film on a glass substrate is irradiatedwith band-like laser light of a width L while being scanned with it inthe X-axis direction, i.e., horizontally (see FIG. 7A) to crystallizesilicon, because there exists no such large-diameter laser device as canirradiate a large-size substrate at one time.

When the illumination is effected while the laser light is moved in theX-direction at a constant length at a time, there occurs an overlap ofillumination. Since the width L of the band-like laser light does notnecessarily coincide with a pitch d (see FIG. 7B) of the sourcefollower, the illumination laser light quantity varies depending on theposition on the silicon film in the laser crystallization step.

Therefore, a positional variation, i.e., variations in characteristicsoccur in thin-film transistors that are produced from the above siliconfilm, and the threshold voltage V_(th) varies from one thin-filmtransistor to another in the range of V_(thL) to V_(thH) depending onthe position X on the X-axis (see FIG. 8). The threshold voltage V_(th)has a small value at a position where laser beams overlap with eachother, and has a large value where they do not. As a result, thereoccurs a variation in magnitude of output voltages of the sourcefollowers, which directly results in a variation of application voltagesto the liquid crystal device.

FIG. 11 shows an application voltage vs. transmittance characteristic ofa normally-white liquid crystal device. It is understood that avariation ΔV_(th) of the threshold voltage V_(th) causes a correspondingvariation of the transmittance, which is reflected in a displayed image.

As described above, the output voltages of the source drive circuitundesirably vary depending on positions thereof, resulting in displayunevenness of pixels of the active matrix type display device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to reduce display unevenness ofpixels in an active matrix type display device.

In contrast to the conventional device in which a single analog bufferis provided for a data holding control signal for each data line, thepresent invention is characterized in that a data holding control signalis connected with a plurality of source followers that are connectedtogether in parallel. Further, in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention, the parallel-connected source followers are acombination of at least one source follower that is irradiated withlaser light and at least one source follower that is irradiated twicefor crystallization.

A width L of the laser light illumination for crystallization ispreferably larger than a pitch d of the source followers, and is equalto the pitch d multiplied by an integer n that is not less than 3.Further, the invention is characterized in that 2 to n−1 sourcefollowers are connected together in parallel. A variation of thethreshold voltage of thin-film transistors can be suppressed bycombining source followers that are illuminated at different numbers oftimes.

Although the pitch of the source followers and the width of laser lightillumination have been mentioned above, the term “pitch of the sourcefollowers” may be replaced by another term “pitch of pixels” becausethey are equal to each other in general.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing analog buffers of an active matrixtype display device according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing analog buffers of an active matrixtype display device according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing analog buffers of an active matrixtype display device according to a third embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing analog buffers of an active matrixtype display device according to a fourth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing analog buffers of an active matrixtype display device according to a fifth embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are circuit diagrams showing examples of analog buffersused in a conventional active matrix type display device;

FIGS. 7A and 7B schematically illustrate laser light illumination in aconventional analog buffer manufacturing step;

FIG. 8 is a graph showing a relationship between the threshold voltageV_(th) of thin-film transistors used in the conventional analog buffersand the laser light illumination position X in a thin-film transistormanufacturing process;

FIG. 9 schematically shows the conventional active matrix type displaydevice;

FIGS. 10A-10F shows a manufacturing process of a complementary invertercircuit; and

FIG. 11 is a graph showing an application voltage vs. transmittancecharacteristic of a normally-white liquid crystal device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

First, referring to FIGS. 10A-10F, a description will be made withrespect to a manufacturing process of thin-film transistors used in thepresent invention.

A complementary inverter circuit will be described by way of embodiment.A silicon dioxide film of 1,000-3,000 Å in thickness was formed as anundercoat oxide film on a glass substrate (low-alkali glass, quartzglass, or the like; for instance Corning 7059) by sputtering in anoxygen atmosphere. To improve the productivity, there may be used a filmobtained by decomposing and depositing TEOS by plasma CVD.

Then, an amorphous silicon film was deposited at a thickness of300-5,000 Å, preferably 500-1,000 Å by plasma CVD or LPCVD, andcrystallized by being left in a reducing atmosphere of 550° C. to 600°C. for 4-48 hours. The degree of crystallization was increased byperforming laser light illumination (wavelength: 308 or 248 nm) afterthe above step. The silicon film thus crystallized was patterned intoisland-like regions 1 and 2. A silicon dioxide film 3 of 700-1,500 Å inthickness was formed thereon by sputtering.

Subsequently, a film of aluminum (containing Si of 1 wt % or Sc of0.1-0.3 wt %) of 1,000 Å to 3 μm was formed by electron beam evaporationor sputtering. A photoresist (for instance, OFPR800/30 cp produced byTokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd.) was then formed by spin coating. Formationof an aluminum oxide film of 100-1,000 Å in thickness by anodicoxidation before the formation of the photoresist was effective inproviding good adhesiveness with the photoresist and in forming a porousanodic oxide film only on the side faces in a subsequent anodicoxidation step by suppressing a leak current from the photoresist. Thephotoresist and the aluminum film were patterned, i.e., etched togetherto form gate electrodes 4 and 5 and mask films 6 and 7 (see FIG. 10A).

Anodic oxidation was performed on the resulting structure by supplyingit with a current in an electrolyte, to form anodic oxide films 8 and 9of 3,000-6,000 Å, for instance, 5,000 Å in thickness. The anodicoxidation may be performed such that a 3% to 20% acid aqueous solutionof citric acid, oxalic acid, phosphoric acid, chromic acid, sulfuricacid, or the like is used and a constant voltage of 10-30 V is appliedto the gate electrodes. In this embodiment, the anodic oxidation wasperformed for 20-40 minutes in oxalic acid of 30° C. by applying avoltage of 10 V. The thickness of the anodic oxide films 8 and 9 wascontrolled by the anodic oxidation time (see FIG. 10B).

After removing the mask films 6 and 7, the gate electrodes 4 and 5 wereagain supplied with a current in an electrolyte. An ethylene glycolsolution containing tartaric acid, boric acid and nitric acid (3% to 10%in total) was used this time. A superior oxide film was obtained whenthe temperature of the solution was about 10° C., i.e., lower than theroom temperature. As a result, barrier type anodic oxide films 10 and 11were formed on the top and side faces of the gate electrodes 4 and 5.The thickness of the anodic oxide films 10 and 11 was proportional tothe application voltage. For instance, a 2,000-Å-thick anodic oxide filmwas formed with an application voltage of 150 V. The thickness of theanodic oxide films 10 and 11 was determined by a necessary offset. It ispreferred that the thickness be less than 3,000 Å, because a highvoltage of more than 250 V is needed to produce an anodic oxide filmthicker than 3,000 Å and will cause adverse effects on characteristicsof the thin-film transistors. In this embodiment, the voltage wasincreased to 80-150 V, and a proper voltage was selected depending on anecessary thickness of the anodic oxide films 10 and 11.

It should be noted that the barrier-type anodic oxide films 10 and 11were formed between the porous anodic oxide films 8 and 9 and the gateelectrodes 4 and 5 rather than outside the porous anodic oxide films 8and 9, though the step of forming the barrier-type anodic oxide films 10and 11 was performed later.

Then, the insulating film 3 was etched by dry etching (or wet etching).The etching depth may be determined arbitrarily; that is, the etchingmay be performed until the underlying active layers 1 and 2 are exposed,or may stopped halfway. In terms of the productivity, yield anduniformess, it is desirable that the etching be performed until reachingthe active layers 1 and 2. In this case, insulating films 12 and 13having the original thickness are left in the portions of the insulatingfilm (gate insulating film 3) covered with the anodic oxide films 8 and9 or the gate electrodes 4 and 5 (see FIG. 10C).

Then, the anodic oxide films 8 and 9 were removed. It is preferred thatthe etchant be a phosphoric acid type solution, for instance, a mixedacid of phosphoric acid, acetic acid and nitric acid. With a phosphoricacid type etchant, the porous anodic oxide films 8 and 9 are etched at arate that is more than 10 times faster than the barrier-type anodicoxide films 10 and 11. Therefore, substantially the barrier-type anodicoxide films 10 and 11 are not etched with a phosphoric acid typeetchant. Thus, the gate electrodes inside the barrier-type anodic oxidefilms were protected.

Sources and drains were formed by implanting accelerated N-type orP-type impurity ions into the active layers 1 and 2 of the abovestructure. More specifically, first, with the left-hand thin-filmtransistor region covered with a mask 14, phosphorus ions of relativelylow speed (typical acceleration voltage: 5-30 kV) were introduced by iondoping. In this embodiment, the acceleration voltage was set at 20 kV.Phosphine (PH₃) was used as a doping gas. The dose was 5×10¹⁴ to 5×10¹⁵cm⁻². In this step, phosphorus ions cannot penetrate the insulating film13, they were implanted into only the portions of the active region 2whose surfaces were exposed, to form a drain 15 and a source 16 of theN-channel thin-film transistor (see FIG. 10D).

Subsequently, phosphorus ions of relatively high speed (typicalacceleration voltage: 60-120 kV) were introduced also by ion doping. Inthis embodiment, the acceleration voltage was 90 kV, and the dose was1×10¹³ to 5×10¹⁴ cm⁻². In this step, phosphorus ions penetrate theinsulating film 13 to reach the underlying portions. However, due to thesmall dose, low-concentration N-channel regions 17 and 18 were formed(see FIG. 10E).

After completion of the phosphorus doping, the mask 14 was removed. In amanner similar to the above, a source 19, a drain 20, andlow-concentration P-type regions 21 and 22 were formed in the P-channelthin-film transistor region with the N-channel thin-film transistorregion masked this time. Impurity ions introduced into the activeregions 1 and 2 were activated by illumination with KrF excimer laserlight (wavelength: 248 nm; pulse width: 20 nsec).

Finally, a silicon dioxide film of 3,000-6,000 Å in thickness was formedover the entire surface as an interlayer insulating film 23 by CVD.After contact holes for the sources and drains of the thin-filmtransistors were formed, aluminum wiring lines and electrodes 24-26 wereformed. Further, hydrogen annealing was performed at 200° C. to 400° C.Thus, a complementary inverter circuit using the thin-film transistorswas completed (see FIG. 10F).

Although the above description is directed to the inverter circuit,other circuits can be manufactured in similar manners. Further, althoughthe above description is directed to the coplanar thin-film transistors,it can be applied to other types of thin-film transistors such asinverse-stagger type ones.

Embodiments of the invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment,source followers are arranged at a pitch d, and the laser lightillumination width L is equal to 3d. Two source followers are connectedto each other in parallel. Representing a source follower matrix by (l,m), the laser light is first applied to source followers (p, q), (p+1,q), (p+2, q),(p, q+1), (p+1, q+1), and (p+2, q+1).

The laser light is then moved so as to illuminate source followers (p+2,q), (p+3, q), (p+4, q), (p+2, q+1), (p+3, q+1), and (p+4, q+1).Actually, after the first laser irradiation, the substrate mounted on aX-Y table is moved and then the second irradiation is carried out.

Further, a next laser irradiation is carried out onto the sourcefollowers (p+4, q), (P+5, q), (p+6, q), (p+4, q+1), (P+5, q+1), and(p+6, q+1).

In the above manner, the source followers (p, q), (p, q+1), (p+2, q),(p+2, q+1), (p+4, q), (p+4, q+1), (p+6, q) and (p+6, q+1) areilluminated twice with the laser light. Thus, they have the thresholdvoltage V_(thL) in view of FIG. 8.

On the other hand, the source followers (p+1, q), (p+1, q+1), (p+3, q),(p+3, q+1), (p+5, q), and (p+5, q+1) are illuminated only once with thelaser light. Thus, they have the threshold voltage V_(thH).

By connecting to each other in parallel the source followers (p, q) and(p+1, q), the source followers (p+2, q) and (p+3, q), the sourcefollowers (p+4, q) and (p+5, q), the source followers (p+1, q+1) and(p+2, q+1), and the source followers (p+3, q+1) and (p+4, q+1) as shownin FIG. 1, the characteristics of the source followers are averaged, sothat variations in the characteristics caused by the laser illuminationcan be reduced. In other words, in each combined source followers, onesource follower has a higher crystallinity TFT while the other one has alower crystallinity TFT.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment,source followers are arranged at a pitch d, and the laser lightillumination width L is equal to 4d. Three source followers areconnected together in parallel.

The laser light is first applied to source followers (p, q), (p+1, q),(p+2, q), (p+3, q), (p, q+1), (p+1, q+1), (p+2, q+1), (p+3, q+1), (p.q+2), (p+1, q+2), (p+2, q+2) and (p+3, q+2).

The laser light is then moved so as to illuminate source followers (p+3,q), (p+4, q), (p+5, q), (p+6, q), (p+3, q+1), (p+4, q+1), (p+5, q+1),(p+6, q+1), (p+3, q+2), (p+4, q+2), (p+5, q+2) and (p+6, q+2).

Since the source followers (p, q), (p, q+1), (p, q+2), (p+3, q), (p+3,q+1), (p+3, q+2), (p+6, q), (p+6, q+1) and (p+6, q+2) are illuminatedtwice with the laser light, they have the threshold voltage V_(thL) (seeFIG. 8).

Since the source followers (p+1, q), (p+2, q), (p+1, q+1), (p+2, q+1),(p+1, q+2), (p+2, q+2), (p+4, q), (p+5, q), (p+4, q+1), (p+5, q+1),(p+4, q+2) and (p+5, q+2) are illuminated only once with the laserlight, they have the threshold voltage V_(thH) (see FIG. 8).

By connecting together in parallel the source followers (p, q), (p+1, q)and (p+2, q), the source followers (p+3, q), (p+4, q) and (p+5, q), thesource followers (p+1, q+1), (p+2, q+1) and (p+3, q+1), the sourcefollowers (p+4, q+1), (p+5, q+1) and (p+6, q+1), and the sourcefollowers (p+2, q+2), (p+3, q+2) and (p+4, q+2), respectively, as shownin FIG. 2, one of the three source followers of each combination isilluminated twice with the laser light and the other two sourcefollowers are illuminated only once. By combining the source followersin the above manner, the source followers of every set are made uniform,so that variations in the characteristics caused by the laserillumination can be eliminated.

FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment,source followers are arranged at a pitch d, and the laser lightillumination width L is equal to 4d. Two source followers are connectedin parallel to form one analog buffer where one source follower of anadjacent buffer is located between the two.

The laser light is first applied to source followers (p, q), (p+1, q),(p+2, q), (p+3, q), (p, q+1), (p+1, q+1), (p+2, q+1) and (p+3, q+1).

The laser light is then moved so as to illuminate source followers (p+3,q), (p+4, q), (p+5, q), (p+6, q), (p+3, q+1), (p+4, q+1), (p+5, q+1) and(p+6, q+1).

Since the source followers (p, q), (p, q+1), (p+3, q), (p+3, q+1), (p+6,q) and (p+6, q+1) are illuminated twice with the laser light, they havethe threshold voltage V_(thL) (see FIG. 8).

Since the source followers (p+1, q), (p+2, q), (p+1, q+1), (p+2, q+1),(p+4, q), (p+5, q), (p+4, q+1) and (p+5, q+1) are illuminated only oncewith the laser light, they have the threshold voltage V_(thH) (see FIG.8).

By connecting to each other in parallel the source followers (p, q) and(p+2, q), the source followers (p+1, q) and (p+3, q), the sourcefollowers (p+4, q) and (p+6, q), the source followers (p, q+1) and (p+2,q+1), the source followers (p+1, q+1) and (p+3, q+1), and the sourcefollowers (p+4, q+1) and (p+6, q+1) as shown in FIG. 3, one of the twosource followers of each combination is illuminated twice with the laserlight and the other source follower is illuminated only once. Bycombining the source followers in the above manner, the source followersof every set are made uniform, so that variations in the characteristicscaused by the laser illumination can be eliminated.

FIG. 4 shows a fourth embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment,source followers are arranged at a pitch d, and the laser lightillumination width L is equal to 4d. Two source followers that arelocated in an oblique direction are connected to each other in parallel.

The laser light is first applied to source followers (p, q), (p+1, q),(p+2, q), (p+3, q), (p, q+1), (p+1, q+1), (p+2, q+1) and (p+3, q+1).

The laser light is then moved so as to illuminate source followers (p+3,q), (p+4, q), (p+5, q), (p+6, q), (p+3, q+1), (p+4, q+1), (p+5, q+1) and(p+6, q+1).

By connecting to each other in parallel the source followers (p, q) and(p+1, q+1), the source followers (p+1, q) and (p+2, q+1), the sourcefollowers (p+2, q) and (p+3, q+1), the source followers (p+3, q) and(p+4, q+1), the source followers (p+4, q) and (p+5, q+1), and the sourcefollowers (p+5, q) and (p+6, q+1) as shown in FIG. 4, thecharacteristics of the source followers are averaged, so that variationsin the characteristics caused by the laser illumination can be reduced.

FIG. 5 shows a fifth embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment,source followers are arranged at a pitch d, and the laser lightillumination width L is equal to 4d. Three source followers located inan oblique direction are connected together in parallel.

The laser light is first applied to source followers (p, q), (p+1, q),(p+2, q), (p+3, q), (p, q+1), (p+1, q+1), (p+2, q+1), (p+3, q+1), (p,q+2), (p+1, q+2), (p+2, q+2) and (p+3, q+2).

The laser light is then moved so as to illuminate source followers (p+3,q), (p+4, q), (p+5, q), (p+6, q), (p+3, q+1), (p+4, q+1), (p+5, q+1),(p+6, q+1), (p+3, q+2), (p+4, q+2), (p+5, q+2) and (p+6, q+2).

Since the source followers (p, q), (p, q+1), (p, q+2), (p+3, q), (p+3,q+1), (p+3, q+2), (p+6, q), (p+6, q+1) and (p+6, q+2) are illuminatedtwice with the laser light, they have the threshold voltage V_(thL) (seeFIG. 8).

Since the source followers (p+1, q), (p+2, q), (p+1, q+1), (p+2, q+1),(p+1, q+2), (p+2, q+2), (p+4, q), (p+5, q), (p+4, q+1), (p+5, q+1),(p+4, q+2) and (p+5, q+2) are illuminated only once with the laserlight, they have the threshold voltage V_(thH) (see FIG. 8).

By connecting together in parallel the source followers (p, q), (p+1,q+1) and (p+2, q+2), the source followers (p+1, q), (p+2, q+1) and (p+3,q+2), the source followers (p+2, q), (p+3, q+1) and (p+4, q+2), thesource followers (p+3, q), (p+4, q+1) and (p+5, q+2), and the sourcefollowers (p+4, q), (p+5, q+1) and (p+6, q+2) as shown in FIG. 5, one ofthe three source followers of each combination is illuminated twice withthe laser light and the other two source followers are illuminated onlyonce. By combining the source followers in the above manner, the sourcefollowers of every set are made uniform, so that variations in thecharacteristics caused by the laser illumination can be eliminated.

As described above, by connecting in parallel the source followers thatuse thin-film transistors, the invention can suppress a variation of thethreshold voltage V_(th) due to overlapping of laser light illuminationareas, to thereby reduce display unevenness of pixels.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention has been described,it is to be understood that the present invention should not be limitedto those specific embodiments. Various modifications may be made bythose ordinary skilled in the art. For example, it is possible toreplace the source followers with other elements having an equivalentfunction, for example, op amp.

1. A method of manufacturing an active matrix device having a pluralityof active matrix elements and at least one driver circuit electricallyconnected to said active matrix elements through a plurality of signallines, said driver circuit including buffer circuits connected to saidsignal lines, said method comprising the steps of: forming asemiconductor film over a substrate; irradiating said semiconductor filmwith a light beam to crystallize said semiconductor film; and formingsaid active matrix elements and said buffer circuits by using thecrystallized semiconductor film as an active layer, wherein each of saidbuffer circuits comprises at least first and second circuits connectedin parallel with respect to the corresponding one of the signal lines,wherein said buffer circuits are arranged in a first direction over saidsubstrate and said light beam has an elongated cross section at saidsemiconductor film in a second direction orthoaonal to said firstdirection.
 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said driver circuitis a source driver for supplying video signals to said switchingelements.
 3. A method according to claim 1 wherein said first and secondcircuits are source follower circuits.
 4. A method according to claim 1wherein said first circuit in one of the buffer circuits is formed bysaid forming said active matrix elements and said buffer circuits stepto have different electrical characteristics from said second circuit ofsaid one of the buffer circuits.
 5. A method of manufacturing an activematrix device having a plurality of active matrix elements and at leastone driver circuit electrically connected to said active matrix elementsthrough a plurality of signal lines extending substantially in a firstdirection, said driver circuit including buffer circuits connected tosaid signal lines, said method comprising the steps of: forming asemiconductor film over a substrate; irradiating said semiconductor filmwith a laser beam to crystallize said semiconductor film wherein saidlaser beam has a cross section which is elongated in said firstdirection; and forming said active matrix elements and said buffercircuits by using the crystallized semiconductor film as an activelayer, wherein each of said buffer circuits includes at least first andsecond circuits, one of said circuits of one of the buffer circuits ispositioned in the same line along said first direction as one of saidcircuits of another one of the buffer circuits.
 6. A method according toclaim 5 wherein said driver circuit is a source driver circuit forsupplying video signals to said switching elements.
 7. A methodaccording to claim 5 wherein said first and second circuits are sourcefollower circuits.
 8. A method according to claim 5 wherein said buffercircuits are arranged in a second direction orthogonal to said firstdirection.
 9. A method of manufacturing an active matrix device having aplurality of pixels and at least one driver circuit for driving saidplurality of pixels through a plurality of signal lines extendingsubstantially in a first direction, said driver circuit including buffercircuits connected to said signal lines, said method comprising thesteps of: forming a semiconductor film over a substrate; irradiatingsaid semiconductor film with a line-shaped laser beam to crystallizesaid semiconductor film wherein a cross section of said line-shapedlaser beam at said semiconductor film is elongated in said firstdirection and said line-shaped laser beam is scanned in a seconddirection orthogonal to said first direction; patterning the irradiatedsemiconductor film into a plurality of semiconductor islands for aplurality of thin film transistors; forming a gate electrode adjacent tosaid semiconductor island; forming said buffer circuits wherein each ofsaid buffer circuits comprises at least first and second circuits, eachof which includes at least one of said plurality of thin filmtransistors, wherein the first and second circuits in each of saidbuffer circuits is connected in parallel with respect to a correspondingone of the signal lines, and one of the first and second circuitsassociated with one of said signal lines is located on an extension lineof another one of the signal lines adjacent to said one of the signallines.
 10. A method according to claim 9 wherein said gate electrode ispositioned over said semiconductor island.
 11. A method according toclaim 9 wherein said gate electrode is positioned below saidsemiconductor island.
 12. A method according to claim 9 wherein theelongation direction of said cross section is orthogonal to a directionalong which said buffer circuits are arranged.
 13. A method ofmanufacturing an active matrix device having a plurality of pixels andat least one driver circuit connected to said driver circuit through aplurality of signal lines, said driver circuit including buffer circuitsconnected to said signal lines elongated in a first direction, saidmethod comprising the steps of: forming a semiconductor film over asubstrate; irradiating said semiconductor film with a line-shaped laserbeam to crystallize said semiconductor film wherein a cross section ofsaid line-shaped laser beam at said semiconductor film is elongated insaid first direction and said line-shaped laser beam is scanned in asecond direction orthogonal to said first direction; patterning theirradiated semiconductor film into a plurality of semiconductor islandsfor a plurality of thin film transistors; forming a gate electrodeadjacent to said semiconductor island to form a plurality of thin filmtransistors; forming at least said buffer circuits, wherein each of saidbuffer circuits comprises at least first and second circuits, each ofwhich includes at least one of said plurality of thin film transistors,wherein one of said first and second circuits of one of the buffercircuits is positioned in the same line along said first direction asone of said first and second circuits of another one of the buffercircuits.
 14. A method according to claim 13 wherein said gate electrodeis positioned over said semiconductor island.
 15. A method according toclaim 13 wherein said gate electrode is positioned below saidsemiconductor island.
 16. A method according to claim 13 wherein theelongation direction of said cross section is orthogonal to a directionalong which said buffer circuits are arranged.
 17. A method ofmanufacturing an active matrix device having a plurality of pixels andat least one driver circuit connected to said plurality of pixelsthrough a plurality of signal lines extending in a first direction, saiddriver circuit including buffer circuits connected to said signal lines,said method comprising the steps of: forming a semiconductor film over asubstrate; irradiating said semiconductor film with a line-shaped laserbeam to crystallize said semiconductor film wherein said line-shapedlaser beam has an elongated cross section extending in said firstdirection and said line-shaped laser beam is scanned in a seconddirection orthogonal to said first direction; forming said buffercircuits by using the crystallized semiconductor film, wherein at leastone of said buffer circuits which is connected to one of said signallines is positioned on an extension line of at least said one of thesignal lines and another one of the signal lines adjacent to said one ofthe signal lines.
 18. The active matrix device according to claim 17wherein said driver circuit is a source driver circuit.
 19. A method ofmanufacturing an active matrix device having a plurality of activematrix elements and at least one driver circuit to supply signals tosaid active matrix elements through a plurality of signal linesextending substantially in a first direction, said driver circuitincluding buffer circuits connected to said signal lines, said methodcomprising the steps of: forming a semiconductor film over a substrate;irradiating said semiconductor film with a laser beam to crystallizesaid semiconductor film wherein said laser beam has a cross sectionwhich is elongated in said first direction and said laser beam isscanned in a second direction orthogonal to said first direction; andforming said active matrix elements and said buffer circuits by usingthe crystallized semiconductor film, wherein a portion of at least oneof the buffer circuits is positioned in the same line along said firstdirection as a portion of at least another one of the buffer circuits.20. A method of manufacturing an active matrix device having a pluralityof active matrix elements and at least one driver circuit to supplysignals to said active matrix elements through a plurality of signallines extending substantially in a first direction, said driver circuitincluding buffer circuits connected to said signal lines, said methodcomprising the steps of: forming a semiconductor film over a substrate;irradiating said semiconductor film with a laser beam to crystallizesaid semiconductor film wherein said laser beam has a cross sectionwhich is elongated in said first direction and said laser beam isscanned in a second direction orthogonal to said first direction; andforming said active matrix elements and said buffer circuits by usingthe crystallized semiconductor film, wherein each of the buffer circuitsis arranged obliquely with respect to said first direction so that aportion of at least one of the buffer circuits is positioned in the sameline along said first direction as a portion of at least another one ofthe buffer circuits.